I wish Apple would design gas pumps

As a close observer and student of user interface design, I am nearly overcome by rage and revulsion every time I have to buy gas. Not because of the price (I think gas is too cheap), but by the pump. It's as though the pumps were designed in the 1960s Soviet Union by retarded sadists. No though whatsoever is given to user-friendliness, only to crude functionality.

First, I stick my credit card in the slot, usually the wrong way. There are four possible ways to put the card in, and it's not obvious which is the correct way. If the slot were horizontal instead of vertical, most people would assume that you put the card in face up, which reduces the number of possibilities to two. Putting a read head on both sides of the slot would allow it to read the card either way.

Next, I have to select credit or debit. I hunt around the keypad for the right button. They keypad is cluttered with useless and redundant buttons such as "Yes" and "Ok" and "Enter", or "No" and "Cancel", often leaving me guessing as to which one to use. Some buttons are different colors, but the color coding is only more confusing, not helpful.

Now the machine starts making horrible screeching sounds, presumably because it wants my attention. It's got it already. The shrieks are not helpful. It wants me to enter my zip code on that horrible membrane keypad. There is no tactile feedback, and sometimes you have to press each button fairly hard. It's not immediately obvious when the button press has registered, since there is a slight lag between pressing the button and the number appearing on the screen. Sometimes it makes a horrible shriek after each button press, but there's a lag with that too so the feedback only confuses and irritates me rather than helping me. After entering my zip code, I have to press enter. This is an unnecessary step. The machine knows that your zip code is 5 digits, so it should proceed after the 5th digit.

The screen is usually small, dim, and difficult to read. It refreshes slowly, so visual feedback is not instantaneous. This leaves you wondering if it's doing the right thing for a moment every time you push a button.

Next I have to select the type of gas. The gas selector buttons are in different places on different pumps, and often they are easily confused with stickers indicating the octane rating, so I often end up pressing the wrong sticker or else pressing everthing in sight. Often, there is no tactile feedback from this button either, and the ear-piercing shriek which acknowledges my selection does not come for a second or so, leaving me wondering if I did the right thing.

Now it beeps a few more times, and tells me to start pumping. But it's just teasing, really, because when I pull the trigger nothing happens. I have to wait another 5 seconds or so before it's really ready to start.

Most irritating of all are the new pumps which have video screens that blast advertising at me while I'm pumping my gas. I don't want to be assaulted with this crap! Where's the off button?


Here's how Apple's gas pump would work:

The large, bright touchscreen prompts you to swipe your credit card by showing a graphic of a card going into the horizontal slot, and pointing to the slot, which is right below the screen. It doesn't matter which way you put the card in, because it can read it both ways.

After the card is read, the screen instantly displays large "credit" and "debit" buttons. Since it's a touchscreen, you just touch the correct button. Feedback is instantaneous; there is no perceptible lag between touching and the screen changing. When you touch the screen, you hear a friendly, happy sounding bleep which gives you audible feedback. Again, this feeback is instantaneous - you hear the sound before your finger leaves the screen.

You enter your zip code, again using the touch screen. After the 5th digit, the screen instantly changes, and prompts you to select the type of gas to pump. Again, it's a touchscreen so you just touch the right button on the screen. You dont even have to press hard. While you select the type of gas, it's authorizing your credit card in the background, so you don't have to wait for it.

Now it's time to pump. Ideally, the pump should start up instantly. If there is some good reason why this is impossible, then the screen should show a countdown clock counting down the seconds until the gas is ready to flow. You are never in doubt about what the machine is doing or how long it will take.

While it is pumping, there may be a button on the screen that you can touch to turn on the audiovisual advertising/entertainment assult, just in case you are a desperately bored loser with ADD.

When the pump stops, you are prompted with a cheerful sound, and if you want a receipt you can touch a button on the screen to print one out.


I recently encountered a self-service ordering kiosk at a Carl's Jr. It worked much like the Apple gas pump I just described. Fast, friendly, and intuitive, it was a joy to use. Now why can't gas stations do the same thing? It seems to me like friendly gas pumps would be a competitive advantage.